Handcrafts have been known since the dawn of time. The various needlework techniques of embroidering, crocheting and knitting are centuries old and were elevated to an art form in colonial America. Commemorative pieces were often prepared for birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions, and were usually made from a piece of plain cloth which was embellished with embroidery. Simple designs and initials or a single name could be incorporated into a knitted or crocheted article, but more extensive indicia were often too complicated for the average craftsperson to execute and had to be added by embroidery after the article was completed. Embroidery techniques are still used when complex design elements are added to knitted and crocheted articles and also to decorate and personalize knitted and crocheted articles.
The technique known as filet crochet can be used to create personalized articles. This method involves a graphed design that is worked in combinations of solids and spaces and generally utilizes a fine thread so that the finished product resembles lace. Any design that can be graphed in black and white squares can be made by this method but it is usually used to fabricate place mats, doilies and other relatively small delicate articles that are made in one single piece. The technique of filet crochet is not practical for constructing a large and more substantial article such as an afghan.
A review of patented art in the needlework crafts reveals that few patents have issued. The ubiquitous nature of this art may offer one explanation. A patent for a method of constructing an afghan was issued to Abrahamson in 1982. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,443) The afghan was made of a number of individual crocheted squares. The corner and peripheral squares of the afghan were made with a decorative border added to specific outer edges of these squares. When the squares were joined together the finished afghan had a decorative border around the entire periphery and no further border had to be added. This method offered no way to add personalized indicia or other forms of decoration
Though afghans are popular items for the needle worker to prepare, there have been no other innovations in this area. Webster's dictionary defines an afghan as “a blanket or shawl of colored wool knitted or crocheted in strips or squares”. In colonial times afghans were often made from lengths of yarn left over from other projects and therefore such afghans incorporated a variety of colors and different textures of yarn. More recently, afghans have become important hand crafted articles in their own right. Afghans can be made in a variety, of sizes, from those for use in baby carriages or cribs to afghans that can be used as lap robes for wheelchair occupants, decorative and useful sofa throws and bed spreads for king sized beds. Afghans may also be used as wall hangings, focal points and as other decorative objects. In addition to the squares and strips, afghans may be formed from circles, hexagons, octagons, triangles or any other shapes that can be needle crafted. Each individual piece of the afghan is made separately and later all are joined together to make the whole. The individual pieces can vary from very small, requiring hundreds of pieces for a single afghan, to large where there may be only four, nine or twelve pieces in the finished product. An afghan made from long strips can have even fewer individual strips. After the pieces are joined together, a border may be added around the perimeter of the afghan. Decorative or personalized indicia are often added using various embroidery techniques. A fringe or tassels may also be added to complete the afghan.
The technique of adding indicia by embroidering the indicia on a knitted or crocheted article has been used for many years and is still taught in craft books. One example can be seen in the knitting book copyrighted in 1970 in the United States and Canada to Gottlieb Bros., New York where a number of designs can be added to knitted mittens using duplicate stitch or cross stitch. Other examples are found in the book published by Studio Graphique Phildar in 1985. Additional stitches that can be used to add designs or letters to a knitted article are illustrated and described in detail. Many other craft publications also describe or discuss these techniques.
Embroidering indicia onto a finished article, especially an afghan, has been the method of choice when the article is made using the technique of Tunisian crochet, also known as the afghan stitch. This needlework technique is a cross between crocheting and knitting that requires a special implement resembling a knitting needle with a hook at one end. Crochet stitches are formed and retained on the long needle portion. The forward row of stitches is picked up like knitting and the return row is worked off with a crocheted slip stitch. When the article is finished the indicia or design is added by embroidering over the existing stitches.
This method can be seen in the book published in 1966 by Emile Bernat & Sons, Co. of Uxbridge, Mass., and in the Encyclopedia of Crochet by Donna Kooler copyright 2002 by Leisure Arts, Inc. of Little Rock, Ark.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,197,551 to Schmidt discloses a knitted garment having ornamentation (a letter, number or symbol) added to the finished garment. This is accomplished by adding stitching of the same thread weight as the garment to form the desired ornamentation. Each stitch is applied directly over a stitch of the garment creating the appearance that the added stitch has been knitted into the garment. This requires extra steps and extra work so that completing the knitting of the garment does not produce the finished article.
Indicia can also be added to articles in the, form of chenille crests which are bonded or sewn to a completed article. Such chenille crests can be manufactured as taught by Schachter in U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,634 and by Carnicella in U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,728. A method combining the use of a chenille border and an image printed directly on a fabric is taught by Diaz in U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,219. A method of applying a graphic design to a substrate by means of ultrasonic bonding, adhesive, stapling or plastic fasteners is taught by Popper et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,636. None of these methods would be practical for adding indicia to a hand crafted afghan.
Published instructions for fabricating afghans are specific and complete for a particular afghan. They do not include variations that may assist the person using those instructions to make a gift which incorporates personalized or commemorative indicia that has not been included in those instructions.
There is a need for a method of preparing an afghan that incorporates personalized or commemorative indicia into the substrate of the afghan as the individual pieces of the afghan are being fabricated. This insures that once all of the pieces are completed and fastened together the afghan with its incorporated indicia is complete.